A plurality of direct die cooled semiconductor power device packages are vertically stacked with both coolant and electrical interfacing to form a liquid cooled power electronic circuit. The packages are individually identical, and selectively oriented prior to stacking in order to form the desired circuit connections and laterally stagger the package leads.
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1. A liquid cooled power electronic circuit, comprising:
a vertically stacked assembly of liquid cooled semiconductor packages configured for inter-package flow of liquid coolant through the semiconductor packages of said assembly, where each semiconductor package includes a semiconductor chip and a pair of conductive plates that cooperate to enclose the semiconductor chip and that contact terminals of said semiconductor chip, and where juxtaposed plates of said vertically stacked semiconductor packages are electrically joined to provide electrical interconnects between the semiconductor chips enclosed in adjacent packages of said vertically stacked assembly and thereby define one or more power electronic circuits.
2. The liquid cooled power electronic circuit of
said packages include a fluid chamber vertically bounded by a first plate and a second plate, with the semiconductor chip mounted in the fluid chamber, a first set of vertically oriented fluid passages formed in said first plate for receiving and exhausting liquid coolant, and a second set of vertically oriented fluid passages formed in said second plate that are vertically aligned with the first set of fluid passages for allowing the inter-package flow of liquid coolant when the packages are vertically stacked.
3. The liquid cooled power electronic circuit of
the fluid passages of a given package are symmetrically disposed about a horizontal axis, and selected packages of said assembly are flipped about said horizontal axis prior to assembly to thereby change the electrical interconnects between the selected packages and any adjacent packages of said vertically stacked assembly while preserving the inter-package flow of liquid coolant through said assembly.
4. The liquid cooled power electronic circuit of
said semiconductor packages each include laterally extending electrical leads that are asymmetrically disposed about said horizontal axis such that the leads of the selected packages are vertically misaligned with the leads of the other packages of the assembly.
5. The liquid cooled power electronic circuit of
said semiconductor packages each include laterally extending electrical leads;
the fluid passages of a given package are symmetrically disposed about a vertical axis; and
selected packages of said assembly are rotated about said vertical axis prior to assembly to thereby change a location of the electrical leads for such packages while preserving the inter-package flow of liquid coolant through said assembly.
6. The liquid cooled power electronic circuit of
an insulative frame vertically bounded by a first plate and a second plate to define a fluid chamber where said semiconductor chip is disposed in the fluid chamber; and
the terminals of said semiconductor chip are coupled to said first and second plates by solder or conductive adhesive to electrically and mechanically tie said semiconductor chip to said semiconductor package.
7. The liquid cooled power electronic circuit of
lateral extensions of said first and second plates form electrical leads of said package.
8. The liquid cooled power electronic circuit of
said insulative frame is molded onto said first plate.
9. The liquid cooled power electronic circuit of
said insulative frame is formed of ceramic with metalized surfaces for attachment to said first and second plates by solder or conductive adhesive.
10. The liquid cooled power electronic circuit of
said semiconductor chip is a transistor, and the power electronic circuit is an H-Bridge or a 1/2 -H-Bridge.
11. The liquid cooled power electronic circuit of
fluid inlet and outlet passages formed in opposite ends of said first plate within said insulative frame for admitting and exhausting liquid coolant, said semiconductor chip having a major face that is mounted on said first plate and undercut to form fluid conducting channels that conduct the liquid coolant from said inlet passage to said outlet passage.
12. The liquid cooled power electronic circuit of
said juxtaposed plates are mechanically and electrically joined by solder or conductive adhesive.
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The present invention relates to liquid cooling of power semiconductor electronics, and more particularly to a liquid cooled power electronic circuit defined by a stack of electrically interconnected integrated circuit chip packages.
Various types of cooling mechanisms can be used to remove waste heat from high power semiconductor devices such as power FETs and IGBTs. In cases where the waste heat and/or the ambient temperature are very high, the power device packages can be mounted on a liquid-cooled heat exchanger or a cold plate through which liquid coolant is circulated. The heat transfer can be significantly improved by bringing the liquid coolant directly into contact with the semiconductor chip (die), as shown in the Patent Application Publication Nos. 2006/0022334; 2006/0034052; 2006/0291164; and 2007/0063337, all assigned to Delphi Technologies, Inc. As described in these patent documents, a major surface of the semiconductor chip (say, the drain terminal of a power FET) can be undercut to define an array of fluid conducting channels through the bulk region of the chip, and the chip can be packaged so that some or all of the circulating fluid flows through the channels to remove heat from the chip. As described in the aforementioned Publication No. 2006/0022334, the direct die cooling approach can be implemented on a modular or stand-alone basis by packaging a channeled semiconductor chip in a fluid chamber of a molded housing, and mounting the housing on a circuit board with both electrical and fluid interconnects.
The present invention is directed to an improved direct die cooling arrangement in which a plurality of liquid cooled semiconductor power device packages with direct die cooling are vertically stacked with both coolant and electrical interfacing to form a liquid cooled power electronic circuit. Preferably, the packages are individually identical, and selectively oriented prior to stacking in order to form the desired circuit connections and laterally stagger the package leads.
In general, the present invention is directed to a semiconductor packaging approach in which a plurality of liquid cooled semiconductor power device packages incorporating direct die cooling are vertically stacked to form a liquid cooled power electronic circuit. The invention is disclosed in the context of power field-effect transistors (FETs) configured to form an H-bridge or ½-H-Bridge power transistor circuit, but it will be recognized that the disclosed approach equally applies to other semiconductor power devices and other power electronic circuits.
Referring to
The FET 14 has a lower major surface on which are formed two solderable terminals 22 and 24, with the terminal 22 being internally connected to the FET source and the terminal 24 being internally connected to the FET gate. The upper major surface of FET 14 is partially recessed by an etching or sawing process to define a number of parallel channels 28 separated by intervening walls 30; solderable terminals 32 formed on the upper wall surfaces are internally connected to the FET drain. The source terminal 22 of FET 14 is soldered to a mounting platform 34 of metal base 12, and a metal tab 36 extending laterally from base 12 defines the source lead of package 10. The drain terminals 32 of FET 14 are soldered to a contact pedestal 38 formed on the inboard face of metal cover 18, and a metal tab 40 extending laterally from cover 18 defines the drain lead of package 10. The gate terminal 24 is soldered to a gate lead 42 that is partially recessed in an insulated pad 44 formed on the periphery of metal base 12. The inboard end of the gate lead 42 is up-turned as shown to be co-planar with the mounting platform 34 of metal base 12. Of course, the FET terminals 22, 24 and 32 can be attached to the mounting platform 34, gate lead 42 and contact pedestal 38 with conductive adhesive instead of solder, if desired. In either case, the solder or conductive adhesive serves to both electrically and mechanically secure the FET 14 in the package 10.
Frame 16 is sandwiched between base 12 and cover 18 to form a sealed chamber 46. The frame 16 may comprise a thermo-set molding compound that is insert-molded on the base 12, or may be molded as a separate item and then secured to the base 12 by an adhesive dispensed into a peripheral channel 12a formed on the inboard face of base 12. The inboard face of cover 18 has a peripheral rib (not shown) that nests in a channel formed in the upper face of frame 16, and is secured to frame 16 by an adhesive dispensed into the channel. Alternately, the frame 16 can be formed of ceramic material with metalized lower and upper faces for solder attachment to base 12 and cover 18 in order to more closely match the frame's CTE with the CTE of base 12 and cover 18; in this case, gate lead 42 would be insulated and partially buried in base 12.
Two coolant passages 48 and 50 are formed in opposite ends of the base 12 within the walls of frame 16 to admit and exhaust liquid coolant. The liquid coolant enters chamber 46 through one of the passages 48, 50, flows through the channels 28 of FET 14, and exits chamber 46 through the other passage 50, 48. The passages 48 and 50 are identical in size and shape, and may be non-circular if desired. Since the package 10 is designed for vertical stacking, the metal cover 18 likewise includes a pair of fluid passages 52 and 54 having the same size and orientation as the fluid passages 48 and 50, respectively.
The primary significance of the present invention resides in the recognition that a properly designed liquid cooled semiconductor package such as the package 60 of
Horizontal and vertical axes of symmetry for package re-orientation are shown on the package 60a of
The second package 60b of
The third package 60c of
The fourth package 60d of
It can be demonstrated that the assembly 70 effectuates the H-Bridge circuit of
It can be demonstrated that the assembly 72 effectuates the ½-H-Bridge circuit of
In the above-described embodiments, all of the vertically stacked packages of a given assembly form one power electronic circuit. In cases where it is desired to construct two or more circuits with one vertically stacked assembly of packages, a dielectric interposer sheet (not shown) can be inserted between two adjacent packages of the stacked assembly to electrically isolate the packages above the interposer sheet from the packages below the interposer sheet, so long as the interposer sheet is provided with openings that align with the vertically aligned fluid passages of the assembly. Interposer sheets can also be used to form package leads or transistor-to-transistor interconnects by forming them of metal (or metal on a flexible dielectric layer) and extending them beyond the outline of the packages to which they are attached.
In summary, the present invention provides a cost effective and space-efficient way of forming power electronic circuits with direct die liquid cooling. While described in reference to the illustrated embodiments, it is expected that numerous modifications and variations in addition to those mentioned herein will occur to those skilled in the art. For example, the layout and profile of the semiconductor chip channels may be different than shown, the number and/or shape of the fluid passages, as well as the number of electrical interconnects per package, may be different than shown, and so on. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims.
Myers, Bruce A., Ratell, Joseph M.
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Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
Apr 23 2007 | MYERS, BRUCE A | Delphi Technologies, Inc | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 019321 | /0047 | |
Apr 23 2007 | RATELL, JOSEPH M | Delphi Technologies, Inc | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 019321 | /0047 | |
May 03 2007 | Delphi Technologies, Inc. | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / | |||
Nov 29 2017 | Delphi Technologies, Inc | DELPHI TECHNOLOGIES IP LIMITED | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 045113 | /0958 | |
Aug 01 2024 | DELPHI TECHNOLOGIES IP LIMITED | BorgWarner US Technologies LLC | CHANGE OF NAME SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 068985 | /0968 |
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